Teen Programs

Overview

A teen sketches in the museum
Photo: Winni Wintermeyer

SFMOMA organizes a range of events and activities especially for teens. Our goal is to foster creativity and self-expression and to expose middle school and high school students to art and professional artists. The SFMOMA Community Gallery (located in the parking garage behind the museum) offers teen artists a venue in which to showcase their work, while innovative programs such as those highlighted below provide opportunities to explore art and ideas.

We also offer a range of tours of our permanent collection or special exhibitions that can be tailored to complement high school curriculum topics in social studies, language arts, foreign languages, and fine arts. Visit our School Tours page for more information.


2009 Teen Mural Project

Through October 18, 2009
Koret Visitor Education Center

From January to May, Oakland high school students worked with artists from Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center to create a collaborative mural in response to Art in the Atrium: Kerry James Marshall. The teen mural has a prominent spot in Town Park, a skatepark with an emphasis on visual arts and youth culture located in Oakland's DeFremery Park. This exhibition in the Koret Visitor Education Center features artwork created during the planning and design phases of the project.

In addition, SFMOMA's Education Department is creating a curriculum for ArtThink, the museum's curriculum website. Designed to meet California school standards in visual arts, language arts, and history/social studies, this new addition to ArtThink will include prevalent themes in Marshall's works. Activities will investigate themes such as identity, race, narrative, and sites of history.

11th Annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam, January 2007
11th Annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam, January 2007; photo courtesy Youth Speaks

Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam at SFMOMA

In March 2009, SFMOMA served again as a venue for the Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam semifinals. Organized annually by Youth Speaks, a nonprofit presenter of spoken-word performance, education, and youth development programs, the slams are a celebration of youth voice, literacy, and lyricism. For more information about Youth Speaks programs, visit www.youthspeaks.org.

SFMOMA Matches

SFMOMA Matches was founded in 1996 by the museum's Education Department and Trustee Kamala Harris. This school partnership program brings middle school and high school students together with adult hosts to learn about modern and contemporary art through a series of interactions and activities. By providing structured, hands-on activities inside the museum rather than in the classroom, SFMOMA Matches aims to foster museum visitorship and a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Participating youths receive museum memberships at the conclusion of the program, encouraging them to visit SFMOMA with friends and family.

SFMOMA Matches has served more than 1,000 youths, providing a fun and safe space where young people can get to know the museum and meet adults who share an enthusiasm for the arts. In the spring of 2005, Oakland Works awarded SFMOMA the Academy Mentor Award for its outreach to youth at Oakland High School through the SFMOMA Matches program.

Partnering Schools have included:

In 2008 participants explored the creative potential of the snapshot. A selection of their work was featured in the exhibition Photographing the Everyday: SFMOMA Matches 2008, presented in the museum's Koret Visitor Education Center.

View the SFMOMA Teen Program Photostream on Flickr.